United Successful in UK Licensing Round 31

RNS Number : 1497B

United Oil & Gas PLC

05 June 2019

 

United Oil & Gas PLC / Index: AIM / Epic: UOG / Sector: Oil & Gas

5 June 2019

United Oil & Gas PLC ('United' or 'the Company') 

Provisionally Awarded Four Blocks in the UK North Sea, and Two Blocks in the English Channel

Highlights:

·    Blocks 14/15c, 15/11c, 15/12a, and 15/13c provisionally awarded to United in UK 31^st Licensing Round on a 100% basis

·    Licences cover c. 500 km² in a highly prospective area close to Marigold and Yeoman discoveries and the substantial Piper, MacCulloch and Claymore oil fields

·    Covers multiple plays and a number of low-risk prospects, including Zeta, which has a mean in-place oil volume of over 90 million barrels*, that complement United's nearby Crown Discovery

·    Provisionally awarded 10% interest in Blocks 98/11b and 98/12 in the English Channel, which lie contiguous with United's 10% interest in the Colter P1918 Licence and contain the Ballard Point discovery and the eastern portion of the Colter South discovery

·    Awards in line with United's European-area strategy to identify and acquire low-risk assets that offer investors near term value trigger opportunities and significant value upside

United Oil & Gas Plc, the London Stock Exchange listed oil and gas exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that it has been provisionally awarded, in the UK Continental Shelf 31^st Offshore Licensing Round, four highly prospective blocks in the Central North Sea, including the Zeta prospect, which United estimates could contain over 90 million barrels of in-place oil.  United is also part of the joint venture group that has been provisionally awarded licences in the English Channel, adjacent to the Colter discovery.

Central North Sea Blocks

The Company has been provisionally awarded a 100% interest in Blocks 14/15c, 15/11c, 15/12a, and 15/13c which cover an area of c. 500 sq km and contain multiple targets.  The Blocks are only 10km away from United's Crown Discovery, and are in a highly prospective region, close to the Marigold and Yeoman discoveries and the substantial Piper, MacCulloch and Claymore oil fields.

Block 15/12a contains the Palaeocene Zeta prospect, which is a large, four-way dip-closed structure. This lies in the same Balmoral play as United's Crown Discovery, and is a low-risk prospect. United's internal estimates suggest mean-case in-place volumes of over 90 million barrels*. As well as Zeta, a number of smaller Palaeocene prospects (Brooks, Cook, Hudson, and Bering) have been identified on the licence. Hydrocarbon potential also exists in the shallower Eocene and deeper Mesozoic plays. The multiple targets and plays make this an excellent acquisition. 

The Blocks have been awarded on the basis of a work programme involving the purchase of an existing high-quality 3D seismic dataset and detailed geological and geophysical analysis. This analysis is planned to better quantify the chance of success and reduce the uncertainty on the estimated oil volumes, ahead of making a drilling commitment.  This will require a low capital outlay by the Company.  Subject to final approval, the Company would expect to see the work programme commence in late 2019 or early 2020.

English Channel Blocks

As part of a partnership operated by Corallian Energy Ltd, United has also been offered a 10% stake in Blocks 98/11b and 98/12 in the English Channel. Block 98/12 contains the eastern portion of the Colter South Discovery that was recently made by the 98/11a-6 well, and Block 98/11b contains the Ballard Point Discovery which was drilled by Gas Council Exploration in 1984 with the 98/11-2 well. This well flowed at 9.6 million standard cubic feet per day with 170 barrels of 45^o API condensate from Triassic Sherwood Sandstone. A number of further prospects and leads have also been identified on these Blocks, which the partners intend to incorporate into the plans for the broader region.

United Oil & Gas Plc COO, Jonathan Leather, said, "We are delighted with these awards, which, based on extensive technical work carried out over the available acreage ahead of the application were our primary focus for the 31^st Round. The low-risk exploration we have added in the North Sea Blocks is significant in its own right, but also adds value to our neighbouring Crown licence, where we have completed the committed seismic reprocessing and where we are now looking to progress development and commercialisation plans.  The licences added in the English channel mean the partnership now provisionally holds acreage covering the entirety of the recently discovered Colter South structure, as well as adding additional discovered resources and low-risk exploration upside in a basin that has been a focus for United for a number of years.

"This is our second successful UK licencing round and our largest award to date.  United has done well to be included in the roster of companies which have been successful in this round, including Chrysaor, Equinor, Chevron and Total. 

"The provisional award of the Blocks is part of the strategy of utilising our technical expertise to develop what we believe to be highly prospective opportunities.  This provisional award is the latest addition to our growing portfolio of high-grade targets in the UK, Italy, Jamaica, and Benin that are at various stages of development and monetisation. We continue to evaluate further acquisition opportunities and with activity taking place across our portfolio in H2 2019, the next few months will not be short of high impact newsflow and operational progress."

ENDS

*United's own estimates, not reserves or resources reported on to an AIM Standard

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

Qualified Person's Statement

Jonathan Leather, an Executive Director of the Company, who has over 20 years of relevant experience in the oil and gas industry, has approved the information contained in this announcement.  Dr. Jonathan Leather is a member of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain and the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

For more information please visit the Company's website at www.uogplc.com or contact: 

United Oil & Gas Plc (Company)
Brian Larkin	[e-mail]
Optiva Securities Limited (Broker)
Christian Dennis	[phone]
Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser)
Roland Cornish and Felicity Geidt	[phone]
Murray (PR Advisor)	[phone]
Joe Heron	[e-mail]
St Brides Partners (Financial PR/IR)
Frank Buhagiar and Juliet Earl	[phone]

Notes to Editors

United Oil & Gas plc (UOG) is an AIM-traded company. United was established to explore, appraise and develop low risk assets in Europe and to develop higher risk, higher impact exploration projects in the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa.

The following table outlines the Company's licence interests:

Country	Licence	Operator	United Interest
Italy	Podere Gallina Licence	Po Valley Energy Limited	20%
UK	Waddock Cross Field	Egdon Resources UK Limited	26.25%
UK	PL090 Exploration	Egdon Resources UK Limited	18.95%
UK	P1918	Corallian Energy Limited	10%
UK	PEDL 330	Corallian Energy Limited	10%
UK	PEDL 345	Corallian Energy Limited	10%
UK	P2366	United Oil & Gas Plc	95%
Jamaica	Walton-Morant	Tullow Jamaica Ltd	20%

 

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